Berkeley Bagels was closed but their café tables and chairs were conveniently chained to the sidewalk, creating a nice spot to sit and sketch as the sun was going down a couple Tuesday nights ago.
I had so much fun drawing as more and more of the landscape revealed itself to me. First I was just going to draw the umbrella , but then there were the chairs behind it, and the next table and umbrella. The telephone pole appeared and had to be drawn and then the elevated concrete BART tracks and the electric pole behind it. When a BART train streaked by I added it, trying to remember what I saw.
Corner of Gilman and Northside, Berkeley
I sketched this standing in the street on Northside, my back to Berkeley Natural Grocery. The street lamp must be left over from some previous incarnation of the corner. There are two of them, standing incongruously on each side of a funky little car repair shop. It took so long to draw the lamp that my sketchbuddies were ready to move on before I could draw the buildings on the next corner beyond the fence so I just threw in some paint for the sunset and the “distance.”
I’m enjoying using the stronger color I can get from adding some more opaque colors to my palette, such as cadmium orange, cad red light and cerulean blue. I used to have a “rule” about using only the most transparent colors but after working with oil paints I wanted to be able to get some of that “body” in my watercolors too.
Another rainy Tuesday night, another indoor sketching session for the Tuesday Night Sketchers. We emailed back and forth today, negotiating for an agreeable place to sketch. Finally Picante came to mind and everyone agreed it was perfect, with their great food and friendly neighborhood feel.
Usually we move around sketching from different viewpoints, even within a restaurant. But with four of us tonight ( Micaela joined Sonia, Cathy and I) we parked ourselves in a comfy booth to eat and ended up staying in the same spot all evening. I started by drawing the iced tea in front of me and then turned to the right and drew the bar 10 feet away, putting it behind my tea. In reality, Sonia was sitting across the table from me and she was behind my tea.
Everyone else made several sketches but I spent the whole evening on just one. It felt luxurious to take my time and savor each visual discovery, line and color. But then I felt a bit sheepish when I realized it was 9:00 and everyone else was done and waiting for me to finish so we could do our end of evening show and tell and go home.
My best friend Barbara ordered baby chicks by mail. She’d built a little hen house from scrap lumber and had it all ready for them. So she was surprised when the bundle of chirping chicks arrived with instructions to keep them indoors at 90°F for several weeks. Instead of being in the garden when we came to sketch they were living in the upstairs guestroom/studio in a big box with a heat lamp.
We were greeted at the garden gate by Gertie, her big, old, sweet Sharpei/Mutt.
Gertie the Garden Greeter
I tried to get her to pose for me but she was a bit unclear on the concept.
Garden path at sunset with cactus sculpture. Ink & watercolor
Barbara’s garden (photos from previous post) is abundant with flowers, vegetables, fruit trees, wild birds, her ceramic sculptures (the 3′ tall cactus above is actually made of glazed ceramic), her mosaics and the fabulous scent of healthy growing things. It’s a small garden in North Berkeley, but feels like a visit to the country far from urban stress. Her next door neighbors are musicians and so our sunset sketching was accompanied by birdsong and live music playing softly next door.
Elephant, sun/moon plate and potted bamboo
One of Barbara’s many garden still lifes. Every few steps in her garden (and in her jewel of a cottage) there is another such treasure, but she is the best treasure of them all!
On Solano Avenue in Albany to do an errand I looked up and saw the bell tower of this church against the very blue sky and was sorry I’d accidentally left my sketchbook and paints at home. Fortunately I did have my little camera and took a few photos I could paint from.
The title of the painting is actually the name of the church. According to their website this 100-year old church community changed their name from “First Baptist Church of Albany” to “Church on the Corner” in 2005 because “many people in the community refer to it that way.”
I can’t stop pondering the implications of this: like what if other businesses started dropping their identities and brand names and Apple Computer became “Big Corporation in Cupertino” or Starbucks became “That Coffee Place on Every Corner.”
Golden Open Acrylics and Utrecht Masters Panels
This painting had been nearly finished when I tried glazing over the sky and it failed miserably, lifting off some of the previous layer. So I painted the sky again. Not sure if it was something I did wrong or that the Open Acrylic Gloss Medium doesn’t work well for glazing over layers.
For this painting I used an archival-quality Utrecht Masters panel which is medium-textured canvas on MDF (medium density fiberboard). The surface seemed too absorbent and coarse for the soft Golden Open Acrylics so I applied a first layer of regular acrylic.
That solved the absorbency problem but the texture is still a little too rough for the way I like to paint in thin layers. I have several more of these panels so will continue to experiment with them, using paint more abundantly so the texture isn’t as problematic.
For Worldwide Sketchcrawl 27 today I headed to San Francisco on BART for a 10:30 meetup at the Ferry Building, sketching along the way. The couple at the top of the picture seemed to be on an unsatisfactory date. The woman seemed passive-aggressive: she’d gone along with bringing her clunky bike on BART and her stupid, ancient, ill-fitting helmet, but wasn’t going to have fun. Her date adjusted her helmet straps for her but while he kept his on all the way to the city (complete with duct tape patch), she wouldn’t put hers on.
The guy in the middle above is Pete Scully, sketched outside Peets’ Coffee at the Ferry Building. I had a great time sketching with him and my friend Sonia and other sketchcrawlers wandering the Financial District of SF.
Waiting for Sketchcrawl to Start, ink & watercolor
There were too many people at the Ferry Building, shopping at the upscale foodie shops, being annoying tourists, and/or waiting for ferries. I waited in a line of 20 women for the restroom and didn’t even bother trying to get a cup of coffee at Peets. While we waited for Enrico to give us the “Go,” we sketched the scene. Yes, I exaggerated the crowds and the closeness of the Bay Bridge.
There’s a clarinetist (see Sketchcrawl 21 sketch) who is a permanent fixture at this spot, playing annoying screechy “music” that he segues into “Mary Had a Little Lamb” or “Popeye” whenever a kid approaches. Moms and their tots stop and dance while dads take photos and stuff money in his case. I couldn’t wait to get away from the crowds.
View of Ferry Building from Atop Hyatt Regency
Pete had the brilliant idea of going to the top of the nearby Hyatt Regency Hotel to sketch the view from above. We tried to go to the top floor (17) but the elevator would only take us to 14. We met a bellman on 14 and he said you had to have a key card to get there. I brazenly asked if he had one and he said yes. “Could you take us there?” I asked. He opened the door and swiped his card and sent us on up. What a sweetie! I wish I’d thought to tip him.
When we got off the elevator a gentleman informed us that the 360 degree-view-Regency Lounge was only for Regency Members and asked if we were members. I said no, but asked if we could just look at the view and draw pictures. He asked “For how long?” and I said “Oh, about 10-15 minutes” and he said OK. We were there for nearly an hour and nobody bothered us. We did tip him when we left and he invited us to help ourselves to any of the complimentary food and beverages but we declined.
Cable Car Turnaround, Drumm & Market
Sonia and I were hungry so while Pete started sketching a cable car we bought lunch at a deli across the street. We ate sitting at a bus stop, the only seats around. People kept coming up to us and asking about buses. Then I tried sketching the cable car and the hill it goes up and down. I was doing pretty good until I somehow planted a street light in the path of the street car.
Pete Sketching in front of McDonalds
Heading north, Pete sketched an old German hofbrau that didn’t inspire me (though his sketch did, which I will link to when he posts it) so I drew him from across the street, sitting on his stool in front of McDonalds.
Victoria's Secret Window, Embarcadero
I was tired and about ready to call it a day but managed one more sketch. I was more interested in the almost spiral staircase, the shadows, and odd architecture than the mannequins in their jungle print undies. I’m not a fan of the Victoria’s Secret brand or their ads and I think maybe it shows in the way I subconsciously made the mannequins look like they were giantesses, trapped in the store window and trying to get out.
It was 4:00 and although the end-of-Sketchcrawl meetup was happening at 4:30 in Union Square I decided to just go home and relax rather than head towards more crowds. It was a great day!
Old Boiler in the restaurant, Sanguine Ink & Watercolor
Last Tuesday evening we sketched at the BoilerHouse Restaurant in Richmond’s Craneway Pavillion on the San Francisco Bay. The building had been a Ford automobile factory until World War II when it was converted to military use. Now it holds a restaurant and a huge venue for dance, music and other events and is on the Bay Trail, a walking and bike path around the SF Bay.
BoilerHouse Restaurant, ink & watercolor
The architecture is really complicated and the big smoke stack was very tall so after a false start (the black lines still visible) I switched to a brown pen and started over on the same page. I marked the top of the stack and the bottom of the building so I could get it all on the page. I also used the “plumb line” technique (where you imagine a line straight down from one thing to see what lines up along that line below it).
Sunset View from Craneway Pavillion, ink & watercolor
It was getting cold and windy as the sun was starting to set. The boat at the end of the pier is the restored Red Oak Victory Ship which served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and was built by the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond. That’s the Golden Gate Bridge peeking out from behind the hills.
Tree at Dusk, ink & watercolor
At dusk we moved inside the restaurant to warm up and sketch and this huge tree filled my view through the wall of windows. The window panes provided a convenient grid for drawing the tree.
I’d read reviews saying the service was slow (which is perfect for sketchers) but our water was very nice and conscientious and my salad was good. Other reviews said the restaurant serves strong cocktails and that seemed true: While we were outside sketching a couple of different departing diners (drinkers?) stopped to say alcohol-fueled “funny” things to us and once inside there were occasional bursts of uproarious laughter and the sound of crockery falling to the floor and smashing.
P.S. This Saturday, May 15 is the 27th International Sketchcrawl and I’m planning to attend the San Francisco event. If you’re going too, I’d love to meet up with you there so let me know to look for you!
Pt. Bonita Lighthouse, Marin Headlands, watercolor
Sketching at Point Bonita in the Marin Headlands yesterday it was so windy that I could barely hold my sketchbook and all my photos were blurry because my camera was being blow around so much. At one point my watercolor palette blew right off the ledge on the old fort where I perched while another painter’s table blew away from her. I wore several layers of clothes, and had my head wrapped in ear warmers, a hoodie, a jacket hood and over that tied a bandana over most of my face so only my eyes were peeking out.
View from Pt. Bonita, Marin Headlands
I didn’t even try to set up an easel although others did, finding shelter in one of the old forts. I wasn’t thrilled with these or my other sketches but I was pleased that I’d made the effort to go and enjoyed the gorgeous scenery. I’d love to come back some time when it’s not windy, but I’m not sure if there is such a time.
The area is fascinating:
One of the most unique areas in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, the Marin Headlands covers various types of histories from the Miwok Indians to the Military. Included are historic Fort Barry and Fort Cronkhite, the NIKE Missile site and other military installations and fortifications, dating from 1776 through the Cold War, and the 150 year-old Point Bonita lighthouse. Other attractions include varied hiking trails, dog friendly Rodeo Beach, and astonishing views of the coast and San Francisco. The explosion of wildflowers in the spring and raptor migration in the fall fill the headlands with year round excitement.
The day I painted in this meadow was gorgeous: warm and sunny with the air full of the scents of spring and the sounds of birds, bees and frogs. The plein air painting I did wasn’t worth posting but served as a memory guide, along with my photos for this painting. It is painted with Golden Open Acrylics on a RayMarArt canvas/hardboard panel.
I know I’ve been a bit quiet here lately—just a bit of spring fever and choosing to be outdoors and/or painting, not at the computer. (:
Sylvia Painting at Berkeley Marina, Ink & watercolor
First the Good Day: I had fun sketching this artist painting at the Berkeley Marina during our paint-out today. Unfortunately that fun was sandwiched between two Bad-Day things.
The second Bad Day thing is the worst: I came home from the paint-out and discovered that my Gmail account got hacked and sent spam to everyone in my address book. UGH! I researched the problem and took all the recommended steps to fix it: changed my Gmail password (and am now halfway through changing all my other passwords), checked all my security settings, ran 2 virus checkers and 2 malware checkers which all came up negative.
If you received one of the spam messages, please accept my apology. And if you clicked the link or replied to the message, then just to be safe, please change your email password too.
The first Bad-Day thing was that on my way to the paint-out there was a big accident just beyond the exit I needed to take to the Marina. Traffic wasn’t moving and people started getting nasty. First they started driving on the shoulder of the road, trying (unsuccessfully) to get to the exit and off the freeway.
Then big SUVs and pickup trucks started driving up the curb onto the dirt, turning one pre-exit lane into 3 lanes of cars squeezed together, jockeying to get ahead of each other. Then two SUVs ran into each other, blocking things up even more. Of course all three lanes had to funnel back into the same lane at the exit ramp but those pushy guys got off first.
Berkeley Harbor Patrol, ink & watercolor
I was really upset because our plein air group had hired David Savellano to lead a watercolor sketching workshop for us and I was missing it! I was so frustrated just sitting there watching beastly, rude drivers instead of enjoying art and sea air at the marina. Finally, inch by inch I made it to the exit and arrived half an hour late to the demo.
Naturally, I had a little trouble loosening up when I did the boat sketch above, but after taking a lunch/attitude adjustment break, returned for more, determined to get loose and just play. The sketch at the top of the post was the result. During the critique David gave me great reviews for both sketches which made my day and believe, me, I really needed that on a day like this!
Borges Ranch View, Open Acrylics on canvas panel, 10x12" (studio painting)
It’s springtime in California and those famous “golden rolling hills” are actually a million shades of green right now, thanks to all the rain (which we probably won’t see again until next winter). When my plein air group went to Borges Ranch in Walnut Creek last month for our paint out, I used the time to hike, sketch and take photos. Then I made the painting above in the studio from my photos memories of the day.
You can see my recent sketches of Borges here. The two Borges paintings below from 2009 and 2008 help me see that I am making progress.
I really like going out sketching with the group and experiencing everything about the day without the frustration of trying to make a 2-hour painting as the light and scene changes completely. I’m better suited to doing sketches in the field and paintings in the studio.
Last Sunday I tried again to paint on site. I thoroughly enjoyed the sounds of birds, crickets and frogs in the meadow where I painted in the sun along the bay in Benicia. The painting was a 50-50 flop that might be salvageable but I took some photos which I altered in Photoshop to match my memories, from which I will make a painting
Jana Bouc, Artist 